Chapter Text
A surge of heat.
Pain.
Silence.
….Is all Matt remembers before forcefully being woken up by the feeling of hands groping his clothes.
“This idiot has nothing. Just a stick. Not even an ID or something”
“This is sad.”
Without getting up, he hears clothing shuffling, and then footsteps receding from where he was laid. As they get a decent distance away, Matt tries to get up with a groan. He makes it onto his feet, before stumbling into a wall with a heavy thud. With his back to the wall, he slides back down to the pavement, legs stretched out in front of him. He tries to assess his surroundings.
A tang of ozone hung in the air around him. The ground was wet with the rain and... something coppery. Water dripped down the building in front of him, hitting a dumpster lid. He heard the soft thrum of electricity somewhere above him. Cold air washed over his face, causing a slight shiver.
He was in an alleyway. Somewhere in New York? No, there was salt in the air. Somewhere near the ocean.
He put his hands on the wall behind him, and tried to push himself up. This time, he was determined to stay up. He felt his head starting to spin immediately and tried to steady himself, by focusing on what he could feel around him. With a sigh, he stretched out his cane and started walking out of the alleyway.
He could feel his socks getting soaked through his shoes, and his hair sticking to his forehead. Great, he had been rained on. In a strange city. With no idea how to get home. And no money.
This’ll be great.
Matt found himself at a crosswalk. Shivering. Without a place to go. Nothing to eat.
That’s the most pressing thing right now; shelter. Then water, food, clothes. Money. He needed to figure out how he got here.
Wandering around the neighbourhood, he encountered a lot.
One of those things was a mugging in an alleyway. From a block away he felt an elevated heartbeat, probably fear. The smell of tears. Snapping hair strands. Low breathing from above. Muscles clenching. The smell of gunpowder and grease. A tall, burly dude holding a gun to a middle aged woman’s head, while pulling her back by her ponytail.
“Please... please don’t… I have a family, my baby-” a sob racked through her, shaking as the man pulled her back. She stumbled backwards. Her heels clacked on the slippery cement. “He- I’m scared! He needs me… please- “
“Where’s the rest?” he growled.
Matt had a feeling that he wasn’t going to let up… even if she gave him the rest
Rest of what? Who knows. He couldn’t let this woman get shot.
As he folded up his cane, he jolted by a sudden swoosh of air, giving him goosebumps, and the sound of… metal… a metal wire?
Before he had time to process what that was, the crack of a bone pulled him out of his thoughts. It was followed by a thud, and a yowl. The gun clattered to the ground. The woman ran past him. As fast as it started, it ended.
Some pretty unfavourable things, but he was willing to give this place a shot.
How did he get here?
There was a heat. And excruciating pain. Almost… blinding.
He chuckled to himself.
Foggy would’ve found that funny. Karen would be a little awkward about it. She wasn't yet used to the blind jokes. Maybe just force a laugh.
A pang of loneliness rang through him.
He couldn’t call Foggy. Tomorrow morning, he’d probably forcefully enter his apartment and see all his missed calls. He’d frantically run around the city trying to find him, and then calling up Karen to ask if he’s with her. They’d both be asking if anyone had seen a blind guy with red glasses wandering around the city. Frank would… well, Frank would probably go about his business, maybe killing more people than usual because Daredevil wasn’t there to handle them. Maybe he would wonder.
He felt his face prickling, and a lump welling up in his chest.
He heard the zipping of the same metal wire through the air, and 2 quiet taps behind him. He felt his stare on the back of his neck. He heard his heartbeat.
The same one who took out the mugger.
A soft voice from behind
“Hey, the road’s clear. You’ve been able to walk for a while now.”
Matt hadn’t noticed the sound of electricity. Too caught up in his own thoughts. Too caught up with his feelings.
“Oh. Appreciated.”
“No problem.”
Matt extended his cane again, and started to walk forwards. It was an unfamiliar place. He didn’t have enough of it mapped out yet to trust that he could walk without it.
The stranger walked quietly behind him.
Matt could feel their– his gaze burning a hole into the back of his neck.
“Where are you going? I’ll walk you there. You’re not from here, right?” The man behind him blurted.
“No need. I can manage.”
Matt quickened his pace, feeling a vague embarrassment and anger at being pitied like his. He’s blind, not an idiot.
“You sure? It can get kind of dangerous around here. Especially at night. I saw you in the alley earlier.”
“I am absolutely sure I can manage myself. Thank you for the offer, though it’s not necessary. Thanks for telling me about the crosswalk.” Said Matt curtly. It was one thing to pity him. It was another to insist that he needed help.
He felt his face burn as he sped up, turning the nearest corner to escape that idiot. He kept up a brisk pace, until the steps were muffled by walls of brick and cement. They were only a murmur, at which point he finally slowed down, and let out a sigh.
What an asshole.
He didn’t notice the sudden lack of footsteps, replaced by a familiar zipping.
He only noticed it when the same guy landed on a roof above him with a thud.
How much longer is this ass going to tail him?
Matt thought to himself.